ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of the herb pair Cuscutae Semen-Lycii Fructus on oxidative stress-induced blood-testis barrier dysfunction and spermatogenesis in the rat model of oligoasthenozoospermia （OAS） and decipher the mechanism based on the silent information regulator 1 （SIRT1）/nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 （Nrf2） signaling pathway. MethodsThirty-five male SD rats were randomized into a blank group （n=7） and a modeling group （n=28）. The OAS model was established by gavage of hydrocortisone aqueous solution combined with single factor electrical stimulation. The modeled rats were randomly assigned into the following groups： model， Cuscutae Semen-Lycii Fructus granules （3.2 g·kg^-1）， Cuscutae Semen-Lycii Fructus total flavonoids （0.34 g·kg^-1）， and L-carnitine （0.38 g·kg^-1）， and treated for 4 weeks. The sperm quality of rats was assessed by an automatic sperm analyzer. The levels of superoxide dismutase （SOD）， malondialdehyde （MAD）， and glutathione peroxidase （GSH-Px） in the testicular tissue were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Hematoxylin-eosin staining was employed to reveal the pathological changes in the testicular tissue and score the spermatogenic function. Transmission electron microscopy was employed to observe the ultrastructural changes of Sertoli cells. Western blot and Real-time PCR were employed to determine the protein and mRNA levels， respectively， of SIRT1， Nrf2， Occludin， zonula occludens-1 （ZO-1）， connexin 43 （CX43）， and β-catenin. ResultsCompared with the blank group， the model group showed decreased total sperm count and motility （P<0.05， P<0.01）， obvious damage in the testicular tissue and blood-testis barrier structure， reduced score of spermatogenic function （P<0.01）， declined levels of GSH-Px and SOD in the testicular tissue （P<0.05）， elevated level of MDA， and down-regulated protein levels of SIRT1， Nrf2， ZO-1， CX43， β-catenin， and occludin （P<0.05， P<0.01） and mRNA levels of SIRT1， Nrf2， ZO-1， CX43， and β-catenin in the testicular tissue （P<0.05， P<0.01）. After treatment， the testicular tissue， blood-testis barrier structure， and score of spermatogenic function （P<0.01） were improved in the Cuscutae Semen-Lycii Fructus granules group， Cuscutae Semen-Lycii Fructus total flavonoids group， and L-carnitine group. Compared with the model group， the treatment groups presented lowered levels of GSH-Px and SOD （P<0.05， P<0.01）， and the Cuscutae Semen-Lycii Fructus granule group showed a decline in MDA level. The protein and mRNA levels of SIRT1， Nrf2， ZO-1， CX43， β-catenin， and occludin were up-regulated in the Cuscutae Semen-Lycii Fructus granules group and total flavonoids group （P<0.05， P<0.01）. ConclusionThe herb pair Cuscutae Semen-Lycii Fructus can regulate the SIRT1/Nrf2 pathway to inhibit oxidative stress and alleviate the blood-testis barrier damage， thereby improving the spermatogenic function in the rat model of OAS. Total flavonoids may be the material basis for the therapeutic effect of Cuscutae Semen-Lycii Fructus.

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of the herb pair Cuscutae Semen-Lycii Fructus on oxidative stress-induced blood-testis barrier dysfunction and spermatogenesis in the rat model of oligoasthenozoospermia （OAS） and decipher the mechanism based on the silent information regulator 1 （SIRT1）/nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 （Nrf2） signaling pathway. MethodsThirty-five male SD rats were randomized into a blank group （n=7） and a modeling group （n=28）. The OAS model was established by gavage of hydrocortisone aqueous solution combined with single factor electrical stimulation. The modeled rats were randomly assigned into the following groups： model， Cuscutae Semen-Lycii Fructus granules （3.2 g·kg^-1）， Cuscutae Semen-Lycii Fructus total flavonoids （0.34 g·kg^-1）， and L-carnitine （0.38 g·kg^-1）， and treated for 4 weeks. The sperm quality of rats was assessed by an automatic sperm analyzer. The levels of superoxide dismutase （SOD）， malondialdehyde （MAD）， and glutathione peroxidase （GSH-Px） in the testicular tissue were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Hematoxylin-eosin staining was employed to reveal the pathological changes in the testicular tissue and score the spermatogenic function. Transmission electron microscopy was employed to observe the ultrastructural changes of Sertoli cells. Western blot and Real-time PCR were employed to determine the protein and mRNA levels， respectively， of SIRT1， Nrf2， Occludin， zonula occludens-1 （ZO-1）， connexin 43 （CX43）， and β-catenin. ResultsCompared with the blank group， the model group showed decreased total sperm count and motility （P<0.05， P<0.01）， obvious damage in the testicular tissue and blood-testis barrier structure， reduced score of spermatogenic function （P<0.01）， declined levels of GSH-Px and SOD in the testicular tissue （P<0.05）， elevated level of MDA， and down-regulated protein levels of SIRT1， Nrf2， ZO-1， CX43， β-catenin， and occludin （P<0.05， P<0.01） and mRNA levels of SIRT1， Nrf2， ZO-1， CX43， and β-catenin in the testicular tissue （P<0.05， P<0.01）. After treatment， the testicular tissue， blood-testis barrier structure， and score of spermatogenic function （P<0.01） were improved in the Cuscutae Semen-Lycii Fructus granules group， Cuscutae Semen-Lycii Fructus total flavonoids group， and L-carnitine group. Compared with the model group， the treatment groups presented lowered levels of GSH-Px and SOD （P<0.05， P<0.01）， and the Cuscutae Semen-Lycii Fructus granule group showed a decline in MDA level. The protein and mRNA levels of SIRT1， Nrf2， ZO-1， CX43， β-catenin， and occludin were up-regulated in the Cuscutae Semen-Lycii Fructus granules group and total flavonoids group （P<0.05， P<0.01）. ConclusionThe herb pair Cuscutae Semen-Lycii Fructus can regulate the SIRT1/Nrf2 pathway to inhibit oxidative stress and alleviate the blood-testis barrier damage， thereby improving the spermatogenic function in the rat model of OAS. Total flavonoids may be the material basis for the therapeutic effect of Cuscutae Semen-Lycii Fructus.

Abstract Modern western medicine typically focuses on treating specific symptoms or diseases, and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) emphasizes the interconnections of the body’s various systems under external environment and takes a holistic approach to preventing and treating diseases. Phenomics was initially introduced to the field of TCM in 2008 as a new discipline that studies the laws of integrated and dynamic changes of human clinical phenomes under the scope of the theories and practices of TCM based on phenomics. While TCM Phenomics 1.0 has initially established a clinical phenomic system centered on Zhenghou (a TCM definition of clinical phenome), bottlenecks remain in data standardization, mechanistic interpretation, and precision intervention. Here, we systematically elaborates on the theoretical foundations, technical pathways, and future challenges of integrating digital medicine with TCM phenomics under the framework of “TCM phenomics 2.0”, which is supported by digital medicine technologies such as artificial intelligence, wearable devices, medical digital twins, and multi-omics integration. This framework aims to construct a closed-loop system of “Zhenghou–Phenome–Mechanism–Intervention” and to enable the digitization, standardization, and precision of disease diagnosis and treatment. The integration of digital medicine and TCM phenomics not only promotes the modernization and scientific transformation of TCM theory and practice but also offers new paradigms for precision medicine. In practice, digital tools facilitate multi-source clinical data acquisition and standardization, while AI and big data algorithms help reveal the correlations between clinical Zhenghou phenomes and molecular mechanisms, thereby improving scientific rigor in diagnosis, efficacy evaluation, and personalized intervention. Nevertheless, challenges persist, including data quality and standardization issues, shortage of interdisciplinary talents, and insufficiency of ethical and legal regulations. Future development requires establishing national data-sharing platforms, strengthening international collaboration, fostering interdisciplinary professionals, and improving ethical and legal frameworks. Ultimately, this approach seeks to build a new disease identification and classification system centered on phenomes and to achieve the inheritance, innovation, and modernization of TCM diagnostic and therapeutic patterns.

Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearranged renal cell carcinoma (ALK-RCC) is an exceedingly rare malignancy, recently classified as a distinct molecular entity in the 5th edition of the WHO classification for urinary and male genital tumors. Due to its non-specific clinical symptoms and diverse histopathological patterns, accurate diagnosis is difficult. This paper reports a case of ALK-RCC with morphology and immunophenotype resembling papillary renal cell carcinoma. After second-generation sequencing, EML4-ALK gene fusion was found, and positive staining for ALK was confirmed by immunohistochemistry subsequently. Following informed consent from the patient, targeted therapy with crizotinib was initiated. During a 17-month follow-up period, no recurrence or metastasis was observed.

Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearranged renal cell carcinoma (ALK-RCC) is an exceedingly rare malignancy, recently classified as a distinct molecular entity in the 5th edition of the WHO classification for urinary and male genital tumors. Due to its non-specific clinical symptoms and diverse histopathological patterns, accurate diagnosis is difficult. This paper reports a case of ALK-RCC with morphology and immunophenotype resembling papillary renal cell carcinoma. After second-generation sequencing, EML4-ALK gene fusion was found, and positive staining for ALK was confirmed by immunohistochemistry subsequently. Following informed consent from the patient, targeted therapy with crizotinib was initiated. During a 17-month follow-up period, no recurrence or metastasis was observed.

Objective:To explore the independent risk factors of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in patients with sepsis, establish an early warning model, and verify the predictive value of the model based on synthetic minority oversampling technique (SMOTE) algorithm.Methods:A retrospective case-control study was conducted. 566 patients with sepsis who were admitted to Jinan People's Hospital from October 2016 to October 2022 were enrolled. General information, underlying diseases, infection sites, initial cause, severity scores, blood and arterial blood gas analysis indicators at admission, treatment measures, complications, and prognosis indicators of patients were collected. The patients were grouped according to whether ARDS occurred during hospitalization, and the clinical data between the two groups were observed and compared. Univariate and binary multivariate Logistic regression analysis were used to select the independent risk factors of ARDS during hospitalization in septic patients, and regression equation was established to construct the early warning model. Simultaneously, the dataset was improved using the SMOTE algorithm to build an enhanced warning model. Receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC curve) was drawn to validate the prediction efficiency of the model.Results:566 patients with sepsis were included in the final analysis, of which 163 developed ARDS during hospitalization and 403 did not. Univariate analysis showed that there were statistically significant differences in age, body mass index (BMI), malignant tumor, blood transfusion history, pancreas and peripancreatic infection, gastrointestinal tract infection, pulmonary infection as the initial etiology, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation Ⅱ (APACHEⅡ) score, sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score, albumin (Alb), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), mechanical ventilation therapy, septic shock and length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay between the two groups. Binary multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that age [odds ratio ( OR) = 3.449, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was 2.197-5.414, P = 0.000], pulmonary infection as the initial etiology ( OR = 2.309, 95% CI was 1.427-3.737, P = 0.001), pancreas and peripancreatic infection ( OR = 1.937, 95% CI was 1.236-3.035, P = 0.004), septic shock ( OR = 3.381, 95% CI was 1.890-6.047, P = 0.000), SOFA score ( OR = 9.311, 95% CI was 5.831-14.867, P = 0.000) were independent influencing factors of ARDS during hospitalization in septic patients. An early warning model was established based on the above risk factors: P1 = -4.558+1.238×age+0.837×pulmonary infection as the initial etiology+0.661×pancreas and peripancreatic infection+1.218×septic shock+2.231×SOFA score. ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the ROC curve (AUC) of the model for ARDS during hospitalization in septic patients was 0.882 (95% CI was 0.851-0.914) with sensitivity of 79.8% and specificity of 83.4%. The dataset was improved based on the SMOTE algorithm, and the early warning model was rebuilt: P2 = -3.279+1.288×age+0.763×pulmonary infection as the initial etiology+0.635×pancreas and peripancreatic infection+1.068×septic shock+2.201×SOFA score. ROC curve analysis showed that the AUC of the model for ARDS during hospitalization in septic patients was 0.890 (95% CI was 0.867-0.913) with sensitivity of 85.3% and specificity of 79.1%. This result further confirmed that the early warning model constructed by the independent risk factors mentioned above had high predictive performance. Conclusions:Risk factors for the occurrence of ARDS during hospitalization in patients with sepsis include age, pulmonary infection as the initial etiology, pancreatic and peripancreatic infection, septic shock, and SOFA score. Clinically, the probability of ARDS in patients with sepsis can be assessed based on the warning model established using these risk factors, allowing for early intervention and improvement of prognosis.

Background::There is a need for effective and safe therapies for psoriasis that provide sustained benefits. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of tildrakizumab, an anti-interleukin-23p19 monoclonal antibody, for treating moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in Chinese patients.Methods::In this multi-center, double-blind, phase III trial, patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis were enrolled and randomly assigned (1:1) to receive subcutaneous tildrakizumab 100 mg or placebo at weeks 0 and 4. Patients initially assigned to placebo were switched to receive tildrakizumab at weeks 12, 16, and every 12 weeks thereafter. Patients in the tildrakizumab group continued with tildrakizumab at week 16, and every 12 weeks until week 52. The primary endpoint was the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI 75) response rate at week 12.Results::At week 12, tildrakizumab demonstrated significantly higher PASI 75 response rates (66.4% [73/110] vs. 12.7% [14/110]; difference, 51.4% [95% confidence interval (CI), 40.72, 62.13]; P <0.001) and Physician’s Global Assessment (60.9% [67/110] vs. 10.0% [11/110]; difference, 49.1% [95% CI, 38.64, 59.62]; P <0.001) compared to placebo. PASI 75 response continued to improve over time in both tildrakizumab and placebo-switching to tildrakizumab groups, reaching maximal efficacy after 28 weeks (86.8% [92/106] vs. 82.4% [89/108]) and maintained up to 52 weeks (91.3% [95/104] vs. 87.4% [90/103]). Most treatment-emergent adverse events were mild and not related to tildrakizumab. Conclusion::Tildrakizumab demonstrated durable efficacy through week 52 and was well tolerated in Chinese patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis.Trial registration::ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT05108766.

Objective To explore the clinical effect of balanced cupping intervention in treatment of patients with primary dysmenorrhea differentiated as type of qi stagnation and blood stasis Methods A total of 64 patients with primary dysmenorrhea differentiated as type of qi stagnation and blood stasis in the First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine from January 2020 to December 2021 were selected as the research objects, and they were divided into observation group and control group according to the order of consultation and patients' wishes, with 32 cases in each group. The control group received routine health guidance for dysmenorrhea, while the observation group received balanced cupping intervention on the basis of the control group. The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score, dysmenorrhea symptom score, serum prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂), estradiol (E₂), menstrual onset time, menstrual cycle, menstrual volume, and efficacy were compared between the two groups before and after treatment. Results There were significant differences in VAS scores during the 1st, 2nd and 3rd menstruation compared with those before intervention between the two groups (P<0.05); the VAS scores of the observation group during the 1st, 2nd and 3rd menstruation were significantly lower than those of the control group (P<0.05). There were significant differences in dysmenorrhea symptom scores during the 1st, 2nd and 3rd menstruation with those before intervention between the two groups (P<0.05); the dysmenorrhea symptom score of the observation group during the 1st, 2nd and 3rd menstruation was significantly lower than those of the control group (P<0.05). The total effective rate of the observation group was significantly higher than that of the control group (P<0.05). There were significant differences in PGE₂ and E₂ levels during the 1st, 2nd and 3rd menstruation with those before intervention between the two groups (P<0.05). There were significant differences in PGE₂ and E₂ levels between the two groups during the 1st, 2nd and 3rd menstruation (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in menstrual cycle, menstrual duration and menstrual volume between the two groups (P>0.05). Conclusion Balanced cupping intervention has a good effect and high safety in the treatment of patients with primary dysmenorrhea differentiated as type of qi stagnation and blood stasis.

Objective To investigate the risk factors for biliary stricture within two years after orthotopic liver transplantation,and analyze the survival.Methods A retrospective analysis was performed for the data of 495 patients who underwent liver transplantation at Liver Transplantation Center of The First Hospital of Jilin University from January 2014 to January 2022,and according to the presence or absence of biliary stricture within two years after liver transplantation,the 495 patients were divided into stricture group with 89 patients and non-stricture group with 406 patients.The risk factors for biliary stricture and prognosis were analyzed.The independent-samples t-test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between two groups,and the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between two groups;the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between two groups.Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used for the analysis of risk factors,and the Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis.Results Recipient sex(hazard ratio[HR]=1.808,95%confidence interval[CI]:1.055-3.098,P=0.031),preoperative total bilirubin of the recipient(HR=1.002,95%CI:1.001-1.003,P=0.001),cold ischemia time(HR=1.003,95%CI:1.001-1.005,P=0.007),history of abdominal surgery for the recipient(HR=3.851,95%CI:2.273-6.524,P<0.001),and mismatch of donor-recipient bile ducts(HR=1.962,95%CI:1.041-3.698,P=0.037)were identified as independent risk factors for biliary stricture within two years after transplantation.The median follow-up time was 4.09 years,and the 1-,3-,and 5-year survival rates were 92.7%,80.5%,and 75.4%,respectively,after liver transplantation.The onset of biliary stricture within two years after liver transplantation had no significant impact on the survival of patients undergoing orthotopic liver transplantation.Conclusion Recipient sex,preoperative total bilirubin of the recipient,cold ischemia time,history of abdominal surgery for the recipient,and mismatch of donor-recipient bile ducts are independent risk factors for biliary stricture within two years after transplantation.The onset of biliary stricture within two years after transplantation does not affect the survival time of patients undergoing orthotopic liver transplantation.